Suu Kyi to visit China

Yangon (dpa) – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was to pay her first official visit to China next month, members of her party said Tuesday, as the rising power looks to ensure continued good relations with its reforming neighbour.

Chinese officials have previously said they want Suu Kyi to visit the country as part of efforts to engage with different actors in Myanmar’s fledgling multi-party politics.

Suu Kyi is chairwoman of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which is expected to win the majority of the vote at elections slated for late 2015.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win said that he could not give details of Suu Kyi’s December trip, but that China’s leaders had been courting the party. Several NLD delegations have visited China, invited by various Chinese government-linked bodies, in the past two years.

“We just visit to discuss with Chinese Communist Party members,” said Nyan Win, who led a 10-member group from the opposition party to China in November.

“We have a border together and a lot of trade, so the two countries must be friends. It is good for both partners.”a